The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-11-26
z E ". A. A. T II A Y E r

held in his hand. They shall return to
their own land in due season. We shall
receive only of the Lords will. There
fore be not terrified even in the face of
your enemies-such is the comfort
whereby Isaiah tried to cheer and
strengthen the heart of Hezekiah the
king of Judah.
Now, therefore, in the traditions and
secret alarms and breads of mankind.
two of our greatest enemies-yea, had
better say the two greatest enemies of
our race, are death, physical death, and
the divine law. And yet, of all the in
strumentalities which are brought to
bear on human life, these are especially
providential. They have been ordained
of higher and wiser power. No in
genuity of man can annul them or
evade them. We may seem to hasten
or postpone our departure by our own
conduct, within limited number of
years; nevertheless, the Deity hath
appointed the bounds that we cannot
pass. We cannot live forever on the
earth, because the divine Sovereign
hath 80 decreed it. And as to what we
call the eternal law of God-the law to
which we are accountable, and which
must determine our destiny, this was
framed without our asking. 1t was
prepared for us, and imposed upon us,
and, 1 suppose, fitted to us, and 1 do
not know why we should be afraid of
it. The law is terror to evil doors,
1 grant, as it ought to be; but so,
sometimes, is dentist, doctor, a sur.
| geon, chastising father to his child.
But Christian and a philosopher may
never forget that law and death are in
strumentalities. They were divinely
appointed. They must have divine
utility. Now, then, ''Shall the axe boast
itself against him that heweth there
with? Or shall the saw magnify itself
against him that shaketh it AS if the
rod should shake itself against them
that lift it up; or as if the staff should
| lift up itself, as if it were not wood"
Lay down the proposition that the
Deity is an all-wise, all-merciful, and
ALLOWING Father. Now base our rheto-
rical leverage on that proposition, and
we find that the heavenly Father could
Ordain no law and no death which
would defeat his own intentions. To
say that he will eternally dismember
his own family and lose his own chill
dren through the operation of his own
instrumentalities, is to set the axe to
boast itself against him that heweth
Herewith, and the saw to magnify it.
| self against him that shaketh it, and
the rod to shake itself against them
that lift it up, and the staff to lift up
itself, as if it were not wood. The
time is coming when all Christian peo-
pie will look upon the sentiment, that,
'By the decree of God, for the mani
festation of his glory, some men and
angels are predestinated unto everlasting
life, and others foreordained to ever
lasting death, as the greatest blasphe-
my that human language can frame.
What kind of a monster, calleda Father,
can he be, who would foreordain his
own offspring to sail the miseries of
this life, to death itself, and to the pains
of hell forever ?''
But hold fellow Christians. To Or
dain law or an institution which ends
in the same results as predestination,
| is equally as cruel and disastrous as the
aforesaid predestination. The chief
end of man is to glorify God and enjoy
him forever. To talk about instrument
talities which shall defeat the chief end
of man, is to set the axe to hew its
maker, and the saw to shake itself
against the God who holds it, and the
rod to punish him who lifts it up.
Physical death is blessing in disguise.
The Creator saith, will take down
your old house and build you new one.
l will take you out of this world and
put you into another. You are my
child. / have celestial estates. They
are all for the possession of my chill
dren, and my law is for your protec-
tion and guide. 1 will use the axe and
the saw only to build you habitation.
My rod of correction shall be for your
profit, always and only. And my staff
shall not fail. Put your trust in God,
follow your guide, and fear no evil.
Man should fear death no more than
birth; for death is but our second
birth.